President Joe Biden on April 22 set a new target for the country to achieve a 50-52% reduction from 2005 levels in economy wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030, according to an April 22 fact sheet posted on the White House’s website.
The announcement — made during the Leaders Summit on Climate that Biden is holding — is part of his focus on, for instance, ensuring economic competitiveness, the fact sheet noted.
As part of reentering the Paris Agreement, Biden launched a whole-of-government process, organized through his National Climate Task Force, to establish the new 2030 emissions target — known as the “nationally determined contribution,” or NDC, a formal submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the fact sheet said. The April 22 announcement is the product of that government-wide assessment of how to make the most of the opportunity presented by combating climate change, according to the fact sheet.
The 2030 target picks up the pace of emissions reductions in the United States, compared to historical levels, while supporting Biden’s existing goals to create a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by 2050, according to the fact sheet.
Noting that meeting the 2030 emissions target will create jobs, including “line workers who will lay thousands of miles of transmission lines for a clean, modern, resilient grid,” the fact sheet said that the country must, for instance, lead the industries that produce and deploy the clean technologies that are harnessed today.
Among other things, the fact sheet noted that the United States can reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector by reducing tailpipe emissions and boosting the efficiency of cars and trucks. In addition, the fact sheet said, the country can address carbon pollution from industrial processes by supporting carbon capture, as well as new sources of hydrogen — produced from renewable energy, nuclear energy, or waste — to power industrial facilities.
As noted in a separate fact sheet, the White House on April 22 announced new progress on the administration’s goal to, among other things, accelerate and deploy electric vehicles (EVs) and charging stations. For instance, the fact sheet said, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced new funding and partnerships for charger-related research and development, while the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced guidance on how grants can be used to deploy charging infrastructure and newly designated alternative fuel corridors.
DOT on April 22 announced the 5th round of “Alternative Fuel Corridors” designations, the fact sheet added, noting that that program recognizes highway segments that have infrastructure plans to allow travel on alternative fuels, including electricity.
The fact sheet further noted that the first four rounds of designations included portions of 119 Interstates and 100 US highways and state roads, while round 5 includes nominations from 25 states for 51 interstates and 50 US highways and state roads.
Also on April 22, DOE issued a new report clarifying how its programs can be used for EV charging infrastructure, the fact sheet said.
As noted in that report, the Transportation Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, for instance, provides federal credit assistance to eligible surface transportation projects, with eligible applicants including state and local governments. The capital cost of projects must be at least $50m — or 33.3% of a state’s annual apportionment of federal-aid funds, whichever is less — or $15m for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) projects, the report said.
